New Zealand’s Queenstown Airport clears environmental hurdles to its expansion
Queenstown Airport Corporation has welcomed the Environment Court’s final decision on the designation of land next to the airport in Frankton. The designation is to enable expansion of the airport alongside and to the south of the main runway.
Chief Executive Colin Keel said the Court’s decision recognises that the 16 hectares of additional land sought by Queenstown Airport is needed for future airport development.
“This decision allows us all to move forward and progress the development of a truly world-class airport to service the communities across the region and provide value to them, our visitors, the airport community and local businesses.
“The decision creates the opportunity to build general aviation precincts away from our closest neighbours and opens up potential for further development, including building a taxiway parallel to the runway. This would significantly improve the customer experience and overall efficiency because aircraft would no longer need to use the main runway for taxiing.”
“Queenstown Airport has been seeking to acquire this parcel of land (known as “Lot 6”) since 2008. With this decision, we can now progress to the next phase of the process and discussions with the land owner, Remarkables Park Ltd, to advance the development of Queenstown Airport,” Mr Keel says.
The full decision is available on the Environment Court website: https://www.environmentcourt.govt.nz/decisions-publications/read-recent-environment-court-decisions/.
